Drowning
by Briarthorn of MossClan
Summary: Silent vigil… not so silent Claws out… two cats killed Parents… hated by one, loved by two Forgiveness... comes from a death blow by a badger Death... forces you to stand up for yourself


Hullo, everyone! This is my first challenge for SummitClan! Enjoy!

"Lakewillow! Please, don't leave me! I'm so, so sorry! I forgive you for what happened to our parents, stay with me!"

Lakewillow felt her life bleeding out of her, the gaping wound in her flank gushing out blood that stained her white belly fur and the ground around her scarlet.

"You forgive me, Sunbright? Then it is my turn to go. Maybe I'll see you when you go to StarClan from th-the Dark... Forest. Tell Tornwhisker I hope that he forgives me..." the gray and white she-cat gave into the darkness, remorse clawing her heart.

As she fell to the darkness, she saw her life flash before her. First, she was a kit, neglected by her parents, then an apprentice, seeking their attention desperately, and finally, she saw herself on the night of her silent vigil.

She had known her parents were on a walk, and Lakewillow had decided by then that she had had enough of their constant attention to her brother and sister, Sunbright and Tornwhisker. She tried to turn away, tried to scream at herself not to do it, but she found she couldn't speak, couldn't move, so she was forced to watch in horror as herself of the past murdered her own parents.

It had turned out that her siblings had seen her, but Lakewillow had forced them not to tell the Clan. They never did, but they cast her aside, and once sympathetic, loving gazes turned into pure hate.

Time went on, and Lakewillow watched as she heard roars, and shrieks of pain, and ran towards them until she came upon Sunbright fighting a badger. And suddenly Lakewillow knew that the blow the badger was about to strike would've killed Sunbright, and with adrenaline she didn't know she had, she'd run in front of the badger, and time seemingly slowed down as she gazed into her sister's horror-filled blue eyes, and then there was pain...

Lakewillow winced in horror as she felt the powerful strike hit her again. Then, she opened her eyes, and realized that she was on the border between a place of shadows and darkness, and a forest lit up with starlight.

"Where am I?" she mewed, gazing around.

"You are here to be judged to see if you can get into StarClan, or if you will be sentenced to the Dark Forest," said a silver she-cat, her expression grave, "I am Silverstream, the white tom beside me is Whitestorm, and black she-cat sitting next to him is Hollyleaf after her is Jayfeather.

"So, you killed your parents. Why?" demands Jayfeather.

Before Lakewillow could reply, Silverstream began speaking, "Because she was jealous," she hissed.

"Jealousy is a terrible thing," chided Whitestorm.

"I think I understand why she did what she did," said Hollyleaf thoughtfully, "and we can't forget her sacrifice."

"True," conceded Jayfeather, "but I think that her crimes in life might outweigh that."

Lakewillow had decided something at that time. She'd had enough with the back and forth conversation.

"Stop!" she cried, confidence flooding through her, "you know what? I don't care if you send me to the Dark Forest. I deserve it." as the words left her, she realized it was true. She had completely accepted her fate.

She was shaken from her thoughts by Silverstream's cheerful response,

"Congratulations Lakewillow! You passed the test!"

"The test? What test?" asked Lakewillow, dumbfounded.

"We decided to see your reaction by picking apart your only mistake, and yours was perfect!" replied Hollyleaf, before turning to Jayfeather and saying "See? I told you she would pass!"

Wow, thought Lakewillow, I'm a StarClan cat. I never thought that would happen!

"So, are you coming?" asked Jayfeather impatiently, "we don't have all day!"

"Coming to what?" asked Lakewillow.

"StarClan! We're here to escort you to StarClan!" snapped Jayfeather.

"Oh, right!" replied Lakewillow, running after her guides, and hopefully, new friends. As she ran, Lakewillow felt something lift off her back, and it seemed that she could finally be happy.

Aww! I really like this o


End file.
